Sports

A Marathon Worth Your Bucket List

You get to know how the wildlife, conservancy and the community have benefited from the funds raised through the Safaricom Marathon

27 May 2016 .633 Views

The sun is slowly peeking through the trees, the birds are chirping as you wake up from deep sleep. All those months of exercise in preparation for the big day will be publicly put to test today. You now wonder whether making a bet on beating Johnny on the race was a smart move then you quickly dismiss all the thoughts going through your mind and gear up for the big day.

After having your power breakfast, you head out to the starting point, where you meet with colleagues and a couple of old friends. You hear the announcer urging you to get ready as the marathon will start on his cue. This is your last chance to get out of that bet but you choose not to. The gun goes off and your feet start gaining momentum, one after the other.

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As you pass the 5Km mark, it finally dawns on you, you’re actually doing this, taking part in one of the world’s greatest marathons of all time. The clear blue skies give you a sense of calmness, you are surrounded by beauty that is unexplainable, the kind of beauty that requires you to be there physically to fully experience it. During your ran, you sight elephant herds, buffalos, giraffes, ostriches, zebras and many other animals who call the sweet Savannah plains of Lewa Conservancy home.

Although you are exhausted and barely catching your breathe, you make it to the finish line, you can faintly hear the spectators cheering you on. You stretch your muscles slowly and walk by to the nearby tents for a quick massage. You have just enough time to freshen up and join all the participants for the award ceremony.

It is here you get a deeper understanding of how the wildlife, conservancy and the surrounding community members have greatly benefitted from the funds through the Safaricom Marathon and various sponsors. You pull out your phone to quickly type down the stats so that you can upload them later on Instagram and tag all your friends plus @SafaricomLtd and the various sponsors as well.

“The education impact since in 2015 has seen 263 adult learners across 6 centres, 75 teachers employed, 7500 children enrolled to school, 388 scholarships awarded, 13 digital literacy centres, 6 clean water projects, 27 new classrooms and lavatory blocks among other key achievements. Key species have continued to thrive on Lewa for the past three years as numbers of once threatened wildlife, now increase steadily.”

After the ceremony, you head back to the camp site to relax and reflect on the day that was. You are grateful to be part of such a good cause. Dinner is served and Johnny tells you about an awesome bonfire that is going down later on. Everyone wants to party in the wild and as you walk to the nearby bonfire, Johnny constantly reminds you that you lost the bet and you owe him big. You might have lost the bet, but you know the Safaricom Marathon experience will stick with you forever and that’s one thing ticked off your bucket list.